Christmas With the Princesses
by Cookie VanDeKamp
Summary: Rapunzel is invited to a Christmas Eve party at Cinderella's castle.


December had come to Corona, and snow had fallen everywhere. Rapunzel sighed happily, wearing a wreath of holly in her brown hair, as she looked out the window at the pure white blanket that had covered everything.

"Hey, Rapunzel," said Eugene, her fiancé, walking into her bedroom. She turned, and he was holding up a blue envelope with a silver bow. The envelope was addressed to _Princess Rapunzel of Corona and her Husband-to-Be, Eugene Fitzherbert_ in dark blue, loopy writing. "This came in the mail for us."

Rapunzel jumped up from where she was sitting and hurried over to take it from him. "I think it's from Cinderella," she said. "Blue and silver are her favorite colors."

"Or Aurora," Eugene added. "She likes blue."

"Nah, they make her use pink instead. Something about how little girls will get her confused with Cinderella."

"Well, open it."

She did so and read aloud:

_Miss Rapunzel and Mr. Eugene;_

_I am delighted to invite you to the 74__th__ Annual Christmas Ball, which will this year be held at Cinderella and Prince Charming's Castle in Ever Afterworld. All the official princesses (Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Mulan, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Tiana and myself) and their princes are invited, as are several other unofficial Disney royals. The ball will be held from 6 PM to midnight on Christmas Eve. Please send your reply as quickly as you can._

_This year, we have also decided to do a special gift exchanging program! Please fill out the enclosed forms and send them back to me, and then I will assign you a person to get a gift for._

_Charming and I look forward to seeing you!_

_Love from Cinderella_

_PS: In order to send in your form and RSVP, sing "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," and one of my bird friends will come._

Rapunzel pulled out the two enclosed forms, one for Eugene, and one for herself. She smiled widely, her lime green eyes lighting up.

"I celebrated Christmas with Moth—with Gothel," she said, twirling slightly, "but we never had anyone else over. This is my first party since the one Mother and Father had after I came home."

Eugene smiled and glanced down at the form.

**What is your name?**

**What type of a gift do you prefer? (If you really want something, now is the time to say so!)**

**What are your favorite things (colors, places, foods, objects, etc.)?**

**Anything else you'd like your Secret Santa to know?**

When he looked back up, Rapunzel was already finished and was muttering, "How does that song go again…?"

"Something about a dream being a wish your heart makes."

Rapunzel glared at her boyfriend. "No. Really?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yep, really!"

She sighed. She loved Eugene to death and enjoyed his company, but at times he could be so annoying! She twirled a lock of hair on her finger and said, "I need to start being better at remembering things. Do you remember it?"

"Well, yeah, I think so."

"Sing it for me?"

"…yeah, okay… no."

"Please?" she begged in a childish tone.

"But—"

She simply made her big eyes at him and he couldn't refuse.

He huffed and muttered, "The things I do for you…" He cleared his throat and began to (reluctantly) sing. "_A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep… In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for you keep—_This is so cheesy!"

"Keep going!" she said, nudging him with her elbow.

Eugene rolled his eyes and sang, "_Have faith in your dreams and someday—your rainbow will come smiling through—_Oh, come on!—_No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true._"

Almost as if by magic (which, Rapunzel reminded herself, probably was at play here), a little bluebird came soaring in through the window (Eugene hurried to scrawl out his answers on the form) and twittered a greeting to the princess.

"Hello, there," Rapunzel said with one of her charming smiles. "Look, Pascal. We have a guest."

The little chameleon opened his eyes from where he was napping on her dresser, and looked at the bird in disapproval. Another small, adorable creature in _his_ castle? He would have none of that. Pascal turned his back to them, pretending to go back to sleep.

The bird chirped in confusion.

Rapunzel sighed. "Don't mind the grump. He'll warm up to you soon. Here are our forms—" (the bird clamped her beak over the papers) " –and tell Princess Cinderella that we accept her invitation."

The bird flew off… and was back again in a minute with two more forms, these two already filled out by different people.

"I guess these are the people we're supposed to get gifts for," said Eugene, looking down at his.

"I guess so."

The bird cheeped goodbye and zoomed off, through a cloud and disappearing when it passed the second star to the right.

Eugene leaned against the wall as he read his "client's" form.

**What is your name?**

_Prince Naveen_

**What type of a gift do you prefer? (If you really want something, now is the time to say so!)**

_Something nice and beautiful. Or food from New Orleans. Food is always good._

**What are your favorite things (colors, places, foods, objects, etc.)?**

_Southern food, green, yellow, the bayou, guitars, music in general, and castles. Fancy ones._

**Anything else you'd like your Secret Santa to know?**

_Just make it… nice. _

"That's not vague," Eugene muttered as he glanced at Rapunzel. She had read her form, too, but she, unlike Eugene, looked happy with who she got.

**What is your name?**

_Belle_

**What type of a gift do you prefer? (If you really want something, now is the time to say so!)**

_A book. It doesn't matter what kind—I love them all!_

**What are your favorite things (colors, places, foods, objects, etc.)?**

_Books, gold, roses, snow, horses, blue, forests, far-off places, anywhere with a pretty view._

**Anything else you'd like your Secret Santa to know?**

_I'll like anything you've had fun doing or picking out!_

Rapunzel grinned. "I already have a _great_ idea for the person I got."

"Who did you get, anyway?" Eugene asked, making a grab for her form.

She jerked the paper away from him. "It's a Secret Santa, Eugene! _Secret_!"

"Oh, come on!"

She laughed. "No!"

"Please?"

"No."

"For me?"

"Not on your life."

"I'll give you the candy the royal merchant brought back yesterday night."

"Already ate it."

"All of it?"

"No, not all, but a lot. I picked out all of the cream-filled chocolates, though."

"…I wanted those…" he muttered disappointedly.

* * *

><p>The carriage came to a stop. Thank goodness, too—if Esmeralda had to spend one more moment cooped up with Clopin, Quasimodo, <em>and<em> Phoebus, she was going to go crazy! The date was December 24th—Christmas Eve was finally there, and everyone had dressed for the occasion. Instead of her usual lightweight dress, Esmeralda had gotten herself a heavier gown made of red velvet and tied a green sash with bells on it around her waist. She glanced down at the package in her hands—she'd been assigned the new princess, Rapunzel, for the Secret Santa, and had gotten her a magical paint that changed color at will, and could even paint complicated patterns with one stroke.

"Look," said Phoebus as he helped his wife out of the carriage, "Belle and Adam are here, too."

Belle, who normally dressed in gold for formal occasions and parties, was wearing red, too. Adam had placed a red rose in her hair and her fur cape matched. She'd been assigned Cinderella herself for the Secret Santa, which she was very happy about. Everyone wanted to get Cinderella for these things. Cinderella was sort of the unofficial leader of the Princesses, which was odd, considering Snow White came first. Snow White didn't seem to mind, though, and Cinderella was a natural for the job. It had never been _said_ that she was the leader, but everyone knew. Belle had gotten her a miniature glass replica of her castle—other than the size, it was an exact copy. It even showed tiny flowers growing.

Rapunzel and Eugene arrived next, riding in a carriage pulled by Maximus. Pascal had come too, wearing a mini Santa hat. Rapunzel gripped the present she had made for Belle excitedly as the tall towers of the castle loomed over her. Eugene grinned at her.

"Looking forward to the party?"

She nodded. "I've been looking forward to it ever since we got our invites! Did you ever figure out what to get for that guy you were assigned?"

Eugene sighed. "Eventually. I hope he likes it. He strikes me as someone who's really, really hard to shop for."

"I think the girl I got will like her gift," said Rapunzel. "I worked really hard on it." She held up the present, which was wrapped up in gold paper. She had made Belle a book of paintings. Some paintings were of people, some were of plants, and some were of places. She'd tried to incorporate everything Belle liked into the gift.

* * *

><p>Cinderella walked around the large ballroom of her castle home with her husband, Charming. Holly, wreaths, and poinsettias were everywhere, and a large Christmas tree stood in the middle of the room, giving the place a cheery, holiday-ish feel. Her usual pale blue dress she wore for formal occasions had been replaced with one of pure white to match the snow outside. She sighed as she watched her bird friends help the servants put ornaments on the tree.<p>

"I can't wait for everyone else to arrive," she said to Snow White, who had been the first to show up, due to only living over the river and through the woods. She had brought along some woodland friends to help, too. The rabbits and chipmunks were currently sweeping out the pine needles from under the tree. She would've brought along the dwarves, but they'd refused to take a day off from work.

The door opened, and the guests streamed through the door. The women almost immediately descended upon Cinderella.

"Cinderella!" Ariel said, waving hello.

"Thank you so much for inviting us!" Belle said, gesturing towards Adam.

"Who did _you_ get for the Secret Santa program?" Rapunzel asked excitedly.

"You look beautiful!" gushed Aurora.

Meanwhile, the princes hung back, talking with Charming.

"Are they always this excited about these parties?" Eugene asked.

Charming nodded. "Yeah, they're kind of an annual event, like the summer festival or Thanksgiving."

"Snow hasn't stopped talking about it for a week," said Prince (who had parents cruel enough to actually name a prince "Prince"), gesturing towards his wife.

"I can't say I mind," Phillip said, glancing around. "The castle is beautiful."

Adam, who was eating a cookie and was in mid-bite, nodded. "And the royal baker can really cook."

"Isn't he married to one of Cinderella's stepsisters?" Aladdin asked.

"Anastasia," Charming confirmed. "She's become a lot friendlier of late."

"It's present time!" Snow White exclaimed in her high-pitched, cheery voice.

Everyone grabbed their presents and went off to find their "clients."

Esmeralda glanced around the ballroom, looking for the new princess. There she was—by the tree, appearing to be looking for someone, too. The gypsy walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Rapunzel turned around and said, "Oh, hello! Esmeralda, right?"

"That's me," she confirmed. She held out the gift. "Merry Christmas."

Rapunzel let out a small squeal of delight as she took the package. She sat down to unwrap it and gasped. It was a container of paint, and a new paintbrush to go with it.

"It changes color," Esmeralda explained. "If you think of a color or pattern while you paint, it'll change to that color or pattern."

The new princess startled Esmeralda by tossing her arms around her in a hug. "Thank you! I hope your Secret Santa got you a gift this good!"

Phoebus walked up behind his wife and wrapped her arms around her. "Seems like you have a new friend."

Esmeralda smiled. "This is—hey. Where'd Rapunzel go?"

Belle felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and, upon seeing the newest princess, smiled warmly. "Hello, Rapunzel!" she said. "How are you liking the party?"

"It's amazing! I've met Cinderella before, and I had tea with Alice and Mulan, but this is the first time I've met all the other princesses at once."

Belle nodded. "I remember when I became an official princess. Back then there were just five 'official' princesses—Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel and me. We really have grown, especially now that there are so many unofficial princesses."

"Well, the reason I wanted to talk to you is because…" Rapunzel held out the present. "Merry Christmas!"

Belle took it, curious as to what could be inside. When she tore away the paper, she found a leather-bound book with gold lettering. _Belle_ was all the cover said. Inside were paintings—beautiful paintings that must've taken several hours.

"Oh!" she breathed, flipping through it, pausing to admire a picture of a girl sitting on a cliff, watching the sunset. "Did you paint all these yourself?"

Rapunzel nodded. "I used to paint a lot in my spare time, so I've had loads of practice. I really hope you like it…"

"I love it," Belle assured her, grinning.

Naveen was quite happy with his gift too. Through a mouthful of food, he said, "Bourbon chicken! I _love_ bourbon chicken!"

"I thought you might," said Eugene. "I loved it when I had it for the first time. Sooo… you know. Merry Christmas and all that jazz."

"Thanks for the gift—I think Phillip was happy with the present I got him. Have you gotten yours yet?"

Eugene shook his head. "Not yet."

As if on cue, a voice called out, "Ah! Eugene! There you are!" Aladdin was making his way over to the thief-turned-soon-to-be-prince.

"Oh, hey Aladdin."

"Merry Christmas," he said tossing him a package. "Picked it up in the market. Thought you might enjoy it."

It was a copy of _the Tales of Flynnegan Rider_—the book Eugene had loved in his childhood.

"Oh man," he said, tracing the silver lettering with his finger. "I had to leave this behind when I left the orphanage…"

"Book venders. Ain't they wonderful?" Aladdin grinned. He winked. "And I didn't pay a dime!"

Eugene grinned back and fistbumped the other prince. "I just decided. I like you, Aladdin."

"Stick with me, Eugene. We'll go places."

* * *

><p>It was one minute until Christmas Day. And everyone had gathered outside to watch the midnight sky. Tinkerbell's tinkling voice was barely hearable as she rose to the sky, and, with one wave of her wand, lit up every star in every sky everywhere. The starlight reflected off of the snow in the most beautiful ways, and suddenly, as if by magic, a thousand—no, two thousand—shooting stars appeared. Everyone frantically made wishes as the clock struck twelve.<p>

Rapunzel called out, "Merry Christmas, one and all!"

**A/N: This is a Secret Santa gift for DeiPie, AKA, Lizzy! Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy your gift! I like this fic, at least most of it. Eugene meeting Aladdin was ridiculously fun to write. **

**~ Cookie VanDeKamp ~**


End file.
